


Shorts from Endelos

by Loke_Lyon



Category: Original Work
Genre: F/F, F/M, Gags, M/M, Multiple Pairings, Party, Politics, Restraints, Royalty, Scheming, Spies & Secret Agents, Swearing, Violence, War, prisoner
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-08-17
Updated: 2014-12-21
Packaged: 2018-02-13 13:19:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,834
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2152215
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Loke_Lyon/pseuds/Loke_Lyon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>As a world-building exercise I created the world of Endelos. Here are some drabbles and shorts I write about the world. I may do a full story about it one day.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A visit from the Ambassador

“You must understand my position of course,” Junia’s voice was calm, her face betraying no emotion beyond a seemingly genuine look of apology. Estrith doubted its sincerity. She knew Junia’s reputation. 

“Of course I do, Junia,” she replied, with forced politeness. Junia offered a smile, looking doleful. Large brown eyes conveying her regret at being unable to help.

“Our family has a long standing agreement with the church,” Junia explained. Estrith thought she detected a mocking tone.

“Your family is the backbone of the church, should you remove your support…”

Estrith was cut off by a raised hand.

“We can not. There are too many who would use it to their advantage. My brother’s throne is not so secure. If this problem had cropped up a few years down the line… perhaps,”

Estrith found herself grinding her teeth.

“You agree, however, that the church oversteps its boundaries!” 

Junia looked discomfitted. With a sigh she leant over, picking a glass of wine from the table between them.

“Yesterday church soldiers arrested a senator for daring to support your country in it’s endeavours openly. While it’s true our family is the church’s backbone… openly defying it will not work well for us,”

She took a long drink, giving Estrith’s mind time to turn over this information and spit out an obvious conclusion.

“Then don’t do it openly. Your country is one bureaucratic mess after the other. It should be easy to make a few of those messes end badly for them?”

Junia smiled slightly, her eyes lighting up.

“What a terrible thing to suggest!”

The conversation moved on, leaving the topic of upcoming war to more appropriate matters that would be discussed between an Ambassador and a Queen. A few hours later Junia departed, leaving Estrith to mull over all that had occurred. The Ambassador was scarcely out the door when her spymaster entered. He took the seat vacated by Junia.

“Can we add the Free States help to our war assets?” he asked. Estrith sighed.

“No, the best we can hope for is for their supply lines to get messy,” 

Aldhun’s face twisted into a grimace. 

“Let me guess, we can’t even rely on that?” he spat. Aldhun’s hatred for the Free States was legendary.

“Junia and by extension, Marcellus, believes the church has become too powerful. Letting it add a conquered country to it’s already vast list of riches would serve them no purpose. They’ll take action, just nothing overt. The Free States is where the Church began, they are much stronger there. Too entrenched,”

Aldhun merely snorted.

“I should not have let it get this bad…,” she sighed, rubbing her forehead.

“You are not responsible for the actions of your idiot brother,” said Aldhun stiffly. Aldhun’s disapproval of the former king was as great as his dislike of the Free States.

“Ah, but his messes… those are my responsibilities. What’s Roderic up to anyway?”

“He has found an ally in Baron Le Bourhis. Rumour places him holed up there with his entourage, drinking their way through his wine cellar… amongst other things,” Estrith didn’t have to look at Aldhun to know he’d gone red.

“Does he ever stop? It’s a wonder him and Arlette haven’t fifty bastards apiece running about now,”

Aldhun snorted again. 

“Rumours say they both limit themselves to members of the same sex. Baron Le Bourhis is your brothers new, very almost exclusive lover,”

“Goodness! Roderic’s close to settling down… didn’t the good Baron recently marry? What’s his new wife think of it?” Estrith already knew the answer but baiting Aldhun was too fun and she got precious little of that these days.

“She, Adelia le Bourhis, is thrilled. She spends most of her time in Arlette’s bed… or so the rumours say,”

Estrith chuckled.

“Keep an eye on him, he’s still angry about me usurping him. I think the Baron is distraction enough but be prudent,”

Aldhun nodded and rose from his seat. 

“I’ll leave you now. Get some sleep, your Majesty,”

Then he was gone with an almost dramatic swirl of his cloak, leaving Estrith alone to think over the mess she was in and how exactly, she planned on getting out of it.


	2. The Thief

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A thief attempts to steal from the Queen's counting house

Goding had tripped all her instincts yet Ailred had not been able to understand why. It seemed like a simple job on the face of it. The new Queen was focusing on quelling the potential civil war growing in her city and recruiting allies for her war against the Church. Therefore the Guard on her counting house was lower than ever.

Ailred had been hesitant. It was true she needed the coin but she wanted to be alive to spend it and she’d heard a rumour that the Royal Guard asked questions after they’d recovered the corpse. Goding had been insistent. She had given in and at midnight broken into the guard post. It hadn’t seemed like a trap. Lower guard as promised. She’d gotten past them easy enough. An unattended key had allowed her into the lower vaults. Perhaps she should have run then. In her experience guards didn’t leave keys unattended. 

They captured her then, dozens of hired thugs had swooped from seemingly nowhere, pinning her to the floor. She’d elbowed one in the neck and kicked another between his legs but all that earnt was a beating and when Morning dawned she was dragged in front of the Queen, shackled and gagged.

She gasped as she was flung to the floor. Her hands were shackled at her back and she nothing to stop her face cracking into the detailed marble. Her nose began bleeding anew. Courtiers mumbled in shock.

“My Queen, we, your humble servants, have apprehended this thief attempting to steal from your counting house itself!”

Goding! That little weasel. She cursed into her gag and pushed herself up as the courtiers gasped in needless shock. His thug brought his foot down on her back and sent her crashing into the floor. She groaned at the pain.

“Please do not abuse the prisoner in here. The servants will have a fit,” came a dry, male voice and Goding began making grovelling apologies.

“Let her up and ungag her. Every woman and man has a right to speak in their own defence,” the Queen’s voice was clear, a strange edge had entered it. Goding began making stammering excuses but was silenced by the male voice once more.

“I believe the Queen gave you an order,”

They have to know, she thought furiously. Her gag was removed and she hauled to her feet unceremoniously. There was a man standing by the throne, she presumed he was the one who had admonished Goding. He nodded to someone behind her but she couldn’t turn to see. If Goding’s thug had not been propping her up she would have fallen again.

What felt like two guards seized her roughly from behind and dragged her forward, ignoring her pathetic whimpering. She screwed her eyes shut against the pain.

“I see you wasted no time in dealing your own brand of justice,” came the Queen’s icy voice. Goding stammered more apologies.

“I would say the girl is not able to stand trial. What do you think Aldhun?”

The man, Aldhun, approached her. He looked into her eyes and ears and tapped various places on her body. She hissed in pain.

“No, not able at all your Majesty,” he informed the court solemnly and Goding stammered some more. Ailred peered at the two through swollen eyes. The Queen was looking at her and their eyes met briefly before she turned away.

“Very well. Have Wynflead look her over and make sure she is able to stand trial for a week’s time,”

And she was dragged away to Goding’s insistence she should not be left unbound and Aldhun’s crisp voice asking how Goding knew this. Ailred could not shake the feeling that Goding had been the one stitched up and she’d been a mere pawn. The new Queen was fearsome indeed.


	3. The Wedding

Today was the day Estrith was to be married. To a knight none the less. Her brother had truly come through for her in this department, even if he had failed in every other.

Around her maids hurried to pin her into her dress, a beautiful garment that Arlette had picked out. Estrith had doubts about Arlette, about whether she was suitable for her brother but at least the strange foreign woman had an eye for fashion. Mainland fashion at least, not the ugly fashion the people of Isterholm leant themselves too.

Ah but nothing could keep her singing heart down today. No, today was the start of her life as a married woman. Sir Lamont Bordelon. She felt heat rise to her cheeks as she thought of him, well built with dark hair.

He had been Arlette’s bodyguard, in service to her father. He had been so devoted to his duty that he’d followed her even to Isterholm and had signed up with the army. Roderic had been so impressed with him he’d promoted him to Colonel within a few months.

“I say, a look on a ladies face like that bodes well for the wedding night,”Joked a maid, rather coarsely. The other women laughed and she joined in, shyly.

Finally her dress was completed and she examined herself, twirling slowly. The maids took a step back, waiting for her opinion.

“Oh my,” she breathed, momentarily overcome. The maids took her wordlessness as approval and tittered happily. She felt a smile stretching her face and tears threaten to run her make up. They rushed to hush her.

Then after the final touches she was on her way, seated in the open-top carriage. The streets between the Cathedral and the Palace were lined with a cheering crowd. They threw confetti, no doubt provided by her brother. She could truly forgive him for anything after today. Her ladies-in-waiting had taken to waving to the masses and she followed their suite, earning larger cheers and more colourful confetti.

The Cathedral had never seemed so terrifying to her. Nor so large. She wondered where the journey had gone that they had arrived here so quickly and found herself suddenly short of breath. Lady Helena was by her side, concerned but the smiled.  
“Nerves my dear. It’s the biggest day in any woman’s life. Take a deep breath now and in we go…”

And she gasped. Her ladies-in-waiting gasped. The Cathedral had been truly remade. It almost seemed to shine. Her beau stood waiting for her, a smile on his face as if he were overcome by the sight of her. She was truly overcome by the sight of him.

Roderic took her arm and smiled, their parents had passed away long ago and it had always been agreed that he would walk her down the aisle.

“Thank you brother,” she breathed, as loudly as she dared. His smile did not falter as they began their stately pace towards the altar.

“You deserve the very best my sister,” he murmured back. Estrith barely heard him over the organ but was thankful all the same. Then she was there, her husband-to-be smiling down at her, taking her arm as her brother retreated to a respectful distance.

 

She was dancing with Lord Aldhun, who had been her father’s spymaster once upon a time before he’d taken retirement. Yet as he twirled her about the floor he seemed more sprightly than ever. 

“And where is your Lord Husband?” he asked, covertly scanning the room. Estrith tilted her head, unsure. After their first dance he had mentioned something about seeing a friend in the crowd and she had let him go as Arlette had distracted her with some Cecian pastries.

“I…,” she stammered searched the room for him. Aldhun snorted and Estrith tapped him lightly on the arm.

“Aldhun! He’s probably off catching up with his friends,” she admonished, knowing that snort well. It always indicated he privately thought something was happening that shouldn’t be. She shot him a glare. He would not be doing this on her wedding night.

“As you say, My Lady,” he replied and snorted again.

Nearby she heard Lady Helena ask Lady Karina if she knew where King Roderic was and then Aldhun whirled her away and she found her next dance partner to be Lord Read and she forgot the entire thing as her night was consumed with wine and food.


	4. The Party

The party was in full swing again as Maurice le Bourhis made his way through. There were more than usual, he observed. Many young socialites were hoping the festivities would distract from the growing civil war. It wouldn’t be long before everyone had to choose a side and it was getting harder and harder to avoid making that choice everyday.

Across the room her spied Adelia and Arlette dancing slowly, at odds with the rest of the revelers. They were clearly lost in their own little world and so he left them too it. 

Feeling suddenly moody he left, seeking out his own lover. When Roderic Isterholm had first arrived at Chataeu Rougemont he would have thrown himself into the party. Now it seemed he was content to confine himself to Maurice’s study and read. It was a satisfying change even if the speed of it worried him slightly. 

As expected Roderic had curled up on the sofa in his study, snoring slightly with half a glass of wine sitting unfinished on a precarious pile of books. The book he’d been reading was still clutched tightly in his hand, which was resting on his chest. Maurice found himself smiling fondly despite his many worries.

He couldn’t give Roderic his throne back. He couldn’t even provide him with men for his cause, a fact Roderic had found upsetting in the beginning. Roderic had not been a skilled player of politics when he’d met Maurice. He understood better now. Understood Maurice was standing between a powerful crown and a rebellious duke with a lot of support. A wrong move here could be disasterous.

Maurice did not care for Duke Rodin or King Isaac truly. The Duke was a pompous fool whose claim to the throne was tenuous at best. King Isaac was a vicious man, to go to court was to dance on eggshells. One wrong look or word and you’d be banished from the capital for good and that was on a good day. If he was truly angry… well the city gates were decorated with the remains of people who had made King Isaac angry.

He sat down at his desk and gazed at his lover for a while. His mind taking him back several months when he had passed into the court of the King. Long before war had broken out and even Duke Rodin himself still dared to show his face in the city. Roderic had been a dethroned King, begging for an army and making promises he had no possibility of keeping. Maurice had been curious. Of course Isaac’s demand was that Isterholm once again be a territory of Cecilia and Roderic a Duke instead. Unable to agree he’d left court in a cloud of anger.

Maurice had found him and Arlette soon after. He’d known Arlette from before she’d married Roderic but not well. He’d offered them shelter at his estate and the rest had been history after Adelia, his own wife had fallen completely for Arlette.

As if sensing his stare Roderic awoke, groaning sleepily. Light blue eyes, still blinking away sleep, came to rest on him. Maurice smiled warmly and received a wide smile in return before Roderic yawned.

“Have a nice nap?” he asked playfully and roderic snorted as he stood and attempted to stretch out the aches no doubt brought on by falling asleep in such an odd position.

“Not so much. I discovered something odd today. I set your Captain Gosselin on it, he turned up one of Estrith’s spies. We sent him packing but there is no doubt more. Gosselin claims that the man was here before me. I was looking to see if it was true,” he waved the book he’d fallen to sleep with around before placing it on the desk. Maurice felt his jaw clench.

“And was it?” he asked slowly, glaring at the book that had been placed down. Roderic dropped back onto the sofa and sighed heavily.

“The servant in question has a family that has served yours for four generations,” he replied. Maurice swore angrily. He had been so careful with newcomers, trusting his own staff to remain loyal. It seems the troublesome girl could win over anyone. He rose to his feet and stalked over to his lover and swept him into a crushing hug.

“I’ll have Julien sweep the servants quarters tomorrow. If she got one then she’s got more. When we’re in position to strike back at her the last thing we need is our halls crawling with spies,”

**Author's Note:**

> Check out my tumblr at Slightlyleftofsane.


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